Way of the Warrior
by ZenPsyko
Summary: Four years before the Part 1 chunin exam arc. The back story of my OC, Koa Shidajima. He had been training with Jiraiya for the past seven years, a sentence passed by his father for shattering the peace his father, the chief of his village, worked so hard to achieve. Now he has finished his training, but there is no time to rest. Can he restore what he shattered seven years ago?


On a humid summer's day in a dark and empty room, save for a rather plain looking bed, you can hear the chirping of birds, crickets, and the occasional meowing of a cat. The shelves, the window, the doorknob, everything is covered in dust. The air is stale and silent, as it has been for seven years. This room served as Koa Shidajima's room throughout his childhood. It was more than just the place Koa rested his head at the end of the day, it was his sanctuary, his refuge from the torment he faced being labeled a weakling, this is where he hid himself so as to not shame his father, the village's chief, any further than he already did.

The Aotean people were known for two things, their hospitality, but also their ferocity in combat. All young men underwent the training of the Toa, an Aotean warrior, in order to be prepared for an attack at any time from a competing village. They fought for many things, land, power, honor. But overall, they fought to preserve and increase one thing above all else, mana. Mana was the essence of existence in Aotean cosmology, it is the building block of all life. It is believed that the more mana an individual possessed, the more powerful and influential that person was. Mana was eternal, passed down from generation to generation in a family, increasing with deeds of each successive generation. Mana is energy, mana is pride, mana is honor, mana is many things. Because of this, their island home of Roa was a near constant battlefield until one chief, Koa's father, Yogan Shidajima, began a campaign to end the fighting once and for all, unite all the villages into one nation, and finally bring peace to their home. Something of which Koa was banished for shattering when the spirit of Pupuli possessed him, forcing him to beat the son of the neighboring village's chief within an inch of his life before retreating into the depths of his subconscious. As punishment, he was banished from his father's village and sent to train with the man named Jiraiya, a stranger from place called the Hidden Leaf, who told him of a way to control the power of the volatile being within the young boy's mind.

Seven years have passed since that day, and the young boy, now a young man of 16, has returned a changed man. Gone is the boy that was beaten to the ground day in and day out, in his place was a confident fighter, trained to defend his ideals and have the skill to do so. He opens the door to his old room, a room that held many memories, most of them rather painful. But this is no time to dwell on old wounds from the past. A look of confidence streaks across his face, this would be his opportunity to create entirely new memories. He tossed a bag over to his bed and began to unpack.

"So, happy to be home?" Said a man as he leaned against the door. The voice was unmistakable to him. The voice of his father figure for the past seven years, the toad sage, Jiraiya. He turned to his mentor.

"More or less, Jiraiya sensei."

"How so?"

"When I was a boy, I was always the outcast here. People would always talk about how much of a shame I was to my father. I just got back and I can already tell that people still think the same of me now as they did then."

"Well it's not like their opinion is going to change instantly. When the time is right, you'll show them. Until then, just go about your business, but always keep in mind that you are a different person. Let them think how they want to think until they see for themselves how much you've changed. And if any of them want to see the new you the hard way, make them regret it."

"I'll keep that in mind, master Jiraiya."

Another voice emerged from the outside the doorway. "So you're finally back, huh brother?" It was Koa's younger brother, Kai. Their father took ill recently. On some days, he would be too sick to perform his duties as chief, a role which Kai had been filling on those occasion. "When dad heard that you were on your way back, we didn't expect you to be home so quickly."

"Well, seven years is a long time."

"It is, I can already see the difference. I'm sure father will as well."

"How is he?"

"He's well, the medicine we've been receiving from the leaf village is working. Who would've thought that a stranger such as your teacher could create such an opportunity. He must be very important where he comes from."

"Well, to be honest I'm surprised there's a place in the world that HASN'T heard of me." Jiraiya exclaimed.

"Well now you can cross us off that list, master Jiraiya." Said Kai.

"I'll be sure to do that. But I'm afraid I must be off. My job is done."

"No, please spend the night. There's going to be a feast tonight to celebrate my brother's return. You would honor us with by attending." Kai pleaded.

"I appreciate the offer, but I really gotta go."

"No he's right sensei. You're a guest here, besides, you can get some interesting research done before you head out." Koa raised his eyebrows, subtly offering his sensei an opportunity to "admire" the forms of the women in the village on top of a good meal as way gesture of thanks for the years he invested in him.

A wry smile crept across the sannin's face. "Well...I guess one night wouldn't hurt."


End file.
